Andalite terminology

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A compilation of Andalite terminology used throughout the Animorphs series.

• Derrishoul Tree: An asparagus-shaped Andalite tree.

• Dome Ship: Andalite capital ship. Shaped similar to a mushroom, they feature a large park enclosed by a dome at the front of the ship. The three engines are located at the back end of the ship, with the domed park and the engines connected by a narrow shaft, which is the main section of the ship.

• Enos Emarf: A word used to describe a the way a tree is framed in water.

• Elupera: A location on the Andalite home world.

• Escafil Device: The device invented by Andalites which allows anyone who touches it to absorb the DNA of an animal and morph. Also known as the "blue box" or the "morphing cube".

• Estreen: An estreen is someone who is superbly skilled at morphing. After they are imparted with the ability to morph, morphing comes naturally to them. Cassie is one such person; she can "make morphing look good" and also morphs faster than the others, even Ax the Andalite (though it should be mentioned that Ax makes clear that the ability to morph has no bearing on which species the morpher belongs to). Professional estreens exist on the Andalite world for entertainment.

• Flaar: An Andalite animal which smells similar to a human.

• Garmitof

• Hala Fala: A species of Andalite tree.

• Hald Wurra

• Hereth Illint: This Andalite phrase translates roughly to "burping DNA" and refers to the expulsion of acquired DNA the morpher has an allergy to. This entails the creation of an entirely new animal from the expelled DNA from excess mass in Z-space. The "burp" is a response to the loss of morphing control caused by DNA allergies.

• Hirac Delest: An Andalite's final statement, recorded that the Andalite's peers and posterity might judge and understand the Andalite's life.

• Illsipar Root: A species of plant which can be consumed to ease the pain of Soola's Disease. Also a delicacy.

• Jahar: Alloran-Semitur-Corass's custom fighter, named after his wife.

• Mirrorwave Call: A form of thought-speak used to communicate with other Andalites en masse and across great distances.

• Modular Waste Disposal System: Essentially an Andalite toilet.

• Nothlit: A nothlit is a person that has stayed in morphed form for longer than the two-hour time limit; therefore, the individual is forced to remain stuck in morphed form forever (barring higher interference, as the Ellimist has reinstated the true form/morphing power of Elfangor and Tobias).

• Onkalillium: A type of Andalite organic medicine.

• Plintconarythmic physics: The highest level of study in Andalite biochemical engineering. Reserved for the elite in the Andalite scientific community - but Estrid-Corill-Darrath understands it perfectly. She tries to explain to Ax the functions and limitations of human speech in the 'n' dimensions, but it sweeps over the top of his head.

• Quantum virus: A Biochemical agent designed by Andalite scientists that can affect only one specified species. Such a virus was used on the Hork-Bajir homeworld near the end of the battle with the Yeerks for control of the planet.

• Sario Rip: A tear in time-space that causes one to travel forward or backward in time. One very large, intense concentration of energy is required to cause one of the tears. The direction and distance one will travel in time when using these is unknown.

• Seerow's Kindness: An Andalite law that forbids Andalites from giving technology to any foreign species. Named so after Prince Seerow, who pitied the Yeerks in their natural state and taught them how to make spacecraft.

• Soola's Disease: A degenerative Andalite disease which causes a painful and slow death. There is no cure.

• Shorm:Shorm is an Andalite word meaning tail blade. However, it has come to mean a friendship so deep, your friend could put their tail blade against your throat and you'd never worry.

• Shormitor: Tail-blade carvings made by primitive Andalites.

• Shredder: This is an Andalite built directed energy weapon. Although it is more powerful and efficient than the Yeerk-built Dracon beam, it is actually from this weapon that the Yeerk-built counterpart was developed. These weapons come in forms ranging from hand-held to those used on the mighty Andalite Dome Ships.

• StarSword: The Dome ship on which Elfangor serves as an aristh in the beginning of The Andalite Chronicles.

• Torf: The torf is an andalite tail-fighting technique that involves using the flat side of one's tail blade to strike the adverarie's temple. According to Ax, it isn't much use against stronger creatures like Hork-Bajir, but it will knock a human out cold for hours.

• The Abomination: A term for the only Andalite Yeerk controller in existence -- Visser Three, who infests the body of Alloran Semitar-Corass.

• Therant: A species of Andalite tree.

• Thoughtspeak: Thoughtspeak is the method of communication of the Andalites similar to telepathy. The Andalites use this means of communication. Those morphed into an animal form using Andalite morphing technology can communicate using thoughtspeak. Thoughtspeak works on a level higher than words, so lingual barriers are not a problem.

• Tria Gland: The tria gland is the Andalite equivalent of an appendix, located in the back of their head. Ax's tria gland became infected and had to be removed by Cassie with the aid of Erek King.

• UAST

• Unit O

• Unschweet: A haircut given to disgraced Andalites. When an Andalite warrior commits a misdeed, his or her commanding officer uses his tail blade to cut off a patch of fur from the offending warrior. This bare patch serves as a mark of shame representing the warrior's offense. As the fur grows back, the Andalite is slowly redeemed by time and experience, until, finally, the incident is laid to rest and the warrior is whole again.

• Utzum

• Vecol: An Andalite with a disability, such as being without a tail blade. They are shunned from their society and often sent into exile, viewed as inferior and useless to society. Ax, particularly, does not like vecols. The term was introduced in #40: The Other, where a vecol is central to the plot of the story.

• Wish-flower ritual: A ritual performed before the birth of a younger sibling.

• Yamphut: A "morphing sickness" affecting the Tria gland that all of the Animorphs (except for Cassie) became infected with. Although it is not much more than a flu to humans, it can be fatal to Andalites.

• Yaolin: A curse word, used in a similar fashion to "what in the blazes" - for example, "What in yaolin are you doing here?!"

• Z-space transponder: A small electrical component similar to a diode that converts matter/energy into a format that can be transmitted through Z-space